Story by Philip Baptiste
Allegheny West Conference
Story by Michele Joseph
When Juliana Marson received a call from a woman so depressed she was unable to leave her home, Marson did what she knew would work best—she prayed. Then she invited the woman to her two-week-old church plant, the New Jersey Conference’s Grace Place, in Lakewood.
Jacqueline Lewis didn’t come to church, but she arrived during fellowship dinner.
“I stopped what I was doing, ran and hugged her,” Marson says. But Lewis replied, “You can’t hug me. I’m ugly.”
Story by V. Michelle Bernard / Photo by Pieter Damsteegt, NAD Communication
This week church leaders, local pastors and institutional leaders from across the Seventh-day Adventist church in North America gathered to discuss ways to collaborate to reach, retain and reclaim the people of North America with Jesus’ message and mission.
Topics covered included church revitalization, the trend of aging churches, ministering to large people groups (such as single mothers and their families) and how to reach missing Adventist members.
In February 2016, after undergoing surgery, Janice Walker-Cleveland, a member of the Cincinnati Shiloh church in Ohio, sought God’s plan for her life, expressing the sentiment, “Many people search their entire lives and never find ... God’s purpose and plan.”
The only African-American female attorney at Duke Energy’s predecessor, Cincinnati Gas & Electric, Walker-Cleveland has held the positions of senior counsel and assistant general, and is currently the associate general counsel.
Passionate about the remnant people and the three angels’ messages, Walker-Cleveland spoke with her sister, Thea Walker, a member of Dallas City Temple church (Texas), about the Lord’s soon return and her personal mission to reach others.
Story by V. Michelle Bernard
Starting April 1, H. Candace Nurse will serve as secretary/treasurer for the Columbia Union Revolving Fund (CURF). Nurse, currently the chief financial officer (CFO) for the Allegheny West Conference (AWC), has worked at AWC since 2008 in various roles, including assistant treasurer and Human Resources coordinator.
“Candace has demonstrated her acumen and abilities at the Allegheny West Conference and has done an excellent job,” says Dave Weigley, Columbia Union Conference president and chair of the CURF board, who adds her love for people shows in her work.